ZachXBT, a renowned cryptocurrency investigator, is facing a lawsuit brought by Machi for defamation. In an article, ZachXBT revealed compromising information about Machi, accusing him of embezzling funds and participating in fraudulent projects. Faced with this situation, ZachXBT claims that the person concerned is trying to muzzle him by exerting financial pressure.
Crypto-investigator ZachXBT facing legal action
Whether in dark stories of hacks, scams or more generally scams of all kinds in the crypto world, you must have already heard of ZachXBT.
His name has already appeared several times in our columns, whether in connection with the famous $63 million Harmony bridge hack, his investigation into 5 French scammers at the end of last year, or more recently in connection with the Atomic Wallet hack.
If you’re not familiar with him, ZachXBT describes himself as an ‘on-chain investigator’. On countless occasions, he has helped to prevent numerous hacks, warned of dubious projects by tracing their activity on the blockchain, and helped international law enforcement agencies with investigations requiring in-depth technical skills in the crypto ecosystem.
But now, ZachtXBT – who has more than 400,000 followers on Twitter – has decided to call on his community. The on-chain investigator is the target of a legal complaint from Jeffrey Huang, better known under the pseudonym Machi, about whom he wrote an article in June 2022.
1/ It’s unfortunate I have to make this thread but I am being sued by MachiBigBrother for an article I published in June 2022.
Today Machi filed the defamation lawsuit. The lawsuit is baseless and an attempt to chill free speech. I intend to fight back & defend free speech. pic.twitter.com/anVY6zXU5a
– ZachXBT (@zachxbt) June 16, 2023
ZachXBT has appealed for donations as he believes the legal costs could exceed $1 million. Nearly $820,000 was raised in less than 24 hours;
A number of major players have taken part in the joint effort, including Justin Sun, the founder of Tron (TRX), as well as Bankless and CertiK and Sandeep Nailwal, the founder of Polygon (MATIC), alongside many anonymous donors who continue to give every minute.
ZachXBT’s address has accumulated more than $1 million to date (20 June)
Tarnished reputation at stake
According to the plaintiff, ZachXBT damaged his reputation in a “defamatory” article in which the investigator revealed, among other things, that he had embezzled 22,000 Ethers (ETH) in 2018 (i.e. more than $30 million at that time) and launched more than a dozen pump and dump projects, or non-fungible token (NFT) projects with no future to generate profit.
I have consistently maintained that the allegations in his article are false. I look forward to proving through the lawsuit that @ZachXBT unlawfully defamed me.
– Machi Big Brother (@machibigbrother) June 16, 2023
“A year ago, ZachXBT published an article about me on Medium that damaged my reputation. Today, I filed a defamation lawsuit against him in the United States District Court for the District of Texas. I have always maintained that the allegations in his article were false. I look forward to proving through this lawsuit that Zach has unlawfully defamed me. “
The complaint filed by Machi demands that ZachXBT (whose identity was revealed in the document) pay her compensatory damages in an amount to be determined by the court.
For his part, ZachXBT takes full responsibility for his 2022 article. According to him, Machi is trying to silence him through financial pressure :
“This legal action is unfounded and is an attempt to restrict freedom of expression. I intend to fight back and defend freedom of expression. [I understand that Machi is very rich. I am not. He’s using his money to try and silence me. “
The on-chain investigator specified that the amounts paid to him will only be used to pay the legal costs incurred. The surplus will then be reimbursed to donors in proportion to their donations.
Finally, ZachXBT will be defended by Brown Rudnick, the law firm that assisted actor Johnny Depp in his lawsuit against Amber Heard.
